My first shot at a Thor/Avengers type of fanfiction! I own nothing except for Spøkelseheim, which is not actually one of the Nine Realms. As much as I will try to stick to Norse mythology and Marvel comics, I will take creative liberties and perhaps other cultural myths for this story, having only as much knowledge on Norse and Marvel as the movies and Wikipedia gives me.

I guess this is technically an AU because had these events transpired pre-Thor movie, then events onward would have occurred rather...differently. Thank you so much for reading!

"You're mad."

"Ah, but madness is empowering, is it not, Loki?"

Loki didn't deign to look up from his book, but Thor knew that if he did he would send the look of condescending exasperation toward his direction for only the briefest of seconds before returning to whatever studies engrossed him. Thor reached out to rip the book out of Loki's hands for play.

"Don't you dare," said Loki as Thor's hands approached. "Don't you—oh, for goodness' sake." Thor snatched the book and held it high above his head. Loki glared from his seat, refusing to jump up and down for it like an animal. "Do you have any better tactic to have my utmost attention than that?"

"And will you ever do anything besides read? Just listen a little longer," said Thor, tossing the book from one hand to the other. Loki refused to let his eyes travel with his book, letting his gaze bore a burning hole through Thor's eyes. "Spøkelseheim—long have we traversed through all the worlds from the Bifröst and yet we never considered venturing there."

"Running out of beasts to master?" said Sif with a snort. Thor turned to her, and the moment his attention swayed with a snap of his fingers Loki summoned the book from Thor's grasp back into his hands, and continued reading as if there was never any interruption.

"He aims to avoid every princely responsibility thrown upon him if he stayed in Asgard," Loki said.

"How am I supposed to assume Father's throne and maintain Asgard's peace with the rest of the Nine Realms if I do not understand them?" said Thor. "You would know, Loki—you were the one who used that excuse to wheedle Father into letting us see Alfheim."

"I hardly put any effort in that excuse. Father knew immediately what you were up to anyway, before I said a word, but there was no point in telling the truth at that moment."

"The little prince cares more for his books than adventure. You know that, Thor," said Volstagg, his mouth full of mutton. "After all, he can't take a challenge. He'll only fool his way around the problem with magic. Hardly a voyage than a cheat."

He and Fandrall sniggered in their goblets of mead. Loki looked as if he heard nothing, but lifted a long finger and grazed it gently over his lips. Suddenly, mead splashed down both of Volstagg's and Fandrall's fronts, rendering Volstagg's beard sticky and the good drink wasted. Volstagg's thick fingers flew in a panic to his sealed lips, stretching his cheeks as if to tear them open.

"A cheat indeed," Loki said softly as Fandrall's muffled cries were barely audible.

"Loki has gotten the both of us out of unpleasant situations with his sorcery before," said Thor. "It would be folly to speak ill of it, right?" He gave a booming laugh and clapped his hand on Fandrall's back. Fandrall's cheeks swelled, unable to let out a burp with his lips glued shut.

"And for the rest of the time he uses it to cause pointless mischief," said Sif.

"You only say it is pointless because it insults you," said Loki.

"Insults me, indeed," said Sif with a huff. "You, dabbling with your sorcery to cheat throughout our spars! You, whose mind would more quickly lift a battleaxe than your own thin arm!"

"So does that mean I can consider anything you say to me as pointless?"

"Pointless is when you'd rather sit in the shadows and plan battles without pursuing them than plunging into the fight."

"Tut, tut, and this is why you always lose in chess."

"Perhaps we can keep the subject moving a little," said Thor, cautiously eyeing Sif's visible pique.

"There's a reason why few venture to Spøkelseheim, if only you paid enough attention to your studies to realize it," said Loki, snapping his book shut in his hand.

"I fear nothing I read," said Thor.

"What a role model you are. Then pray tell why do you want to visit there?"

"To fight beasts, of course," Sif said immediately.

"Well, yes, that," Thor said. "But we've been in Asgard for so long now that a little change wouldn't hurt."

"See, you haven't studied after all, O future king. Spøkelseheim has no known beasts. None that you could conquer with Mjölner, anyway."

"Nonsense! What foul beast can run amok that I cannot conquer?" said Thor.

"Did you not hear a single word I just said, or are you purposely ignoring me?"

"Surely you're mistaken," said Sif. "There are beasts everywhere, always. Even here, we are all in the danger of pale, silver-tongued snakes slithering about and poisoning us with words."

"You know, Sif, you'd be much prettier if your lips were glued shut like Volstagg."

"I take offense to that," said Sif.

"Well, it was never meant to be a compliment."

"You jest, Loki," said Thor as he pored over the books upon the shelf himself, oblivious to the banter behind him. Volstagg and Fandrall were still indignantly mute, with Hogun risking a smirk for their plight. "These tomes of Spøkelseheim say nothing of it being harmful. In fact, there's barely—"

"Anything written at all," finished Loki. "There's more written about Niflheim, and that place is dastardly enough. And the most tranquil of places have perhaps the longest chapters. That means no one tries to go to Spøkelseheim to study it…or perhaps hardly make it out alive themselves."

"Now that's paranoia speaking for you," said Thor. "And if that truly is the case—that none dare to explore it—then all the more reason for us to see it. For the good of Asgard, and the Nine Realms."

"Why does it feel like I'm talking to your child self again?" Loki said.

"Because I can hardly reach adulthood if I haven't seen everything that the universe offers," said Thor.

"I doubt Father would let you."

Thor gave a flashing grin that only meant one thing to Loki.

"No. Oh no," said Loki sharply. "I know what you're thinking. You're just going to traipse over to Heimdall and demand he let you pass—"

"And when we return with answers he would be all the more willing to celebrate," said Thor. "That we explored and conquered a realm barely known. The very realm that the wisest of scholars could only collect the distance away from Asgard it was, and nothing about what is in it. Why, the next generation will be filled with new knowledge."

"I never realized you were so supportive of the education of the future."

"He would not be sorry that we went."

"If you are so sure of it, why not go up to him this very instant and ask permission?"

Thor laughed with a shake of his head and clapped a strong hand on Loki's thin shoulder. "You are far too legalistic, Loki. You are a prince of Asgard! Who are you to need to ask permission? Besides," he sat down on the armrest of Loki's chair. "Father takes ages to hum and haw through a decision, especially when it comes to us. You know better than anyone my patience runs thin."

"Unfortunately," said Loki. "Your impulsiveness may be just as bad. If this is going to be like that time that you tried wrestling that sea serpent in the middle of the ocean—"

"But I emerged victoriously."

"—and you nearly drowned and I had to fish you out with a net, I'm afraid my level of reluctance is high."

"If you fear that I would not be able to protect you in that realm, don't even worry," said Thor. "Whatever dangers lurk there, I promise you they would not harm you."

Loki looked as if Thor had just announced that he had an interest in pursuing a career in opera. "Now that I take offense to."

"Serves you right," said Sif. She gave a gasp when the roll of bread that she held in her hand mottled into a fat, murky-colored frog. She hurled it at Loki immediately, but it disappeared before it came close to him.

"Now see? If you could combat attacks as quickly as that, you should have no fear," said Thor.

"No one said anything about fear," said Loki with a raised eyebrow toward Fandrall and Volstagg as if daring them to retort, even though they were rendered mute. "Only recklessness."

"We can hardly make elaborate plans of action if we haven't an idea what lies on Spøkelseheim," said Thor.

"Going there is already recklessness."

"The word 'recklessness' is only used by those too scared to fight," said Sif.

"No, it's used by those wise enough to understand that one doesn't have to seek a fight every time they walk out their own door," said Loki, his tone sharpening.

"Your father would pursue a fight if it was laid out before him," Sif said.

"I know that."

"Most honorable sons would look up to their father."

Loki's eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because I don't run around with a battleaxe blubbering some sort of war cry and killing everything doesn't mean I don't look up to him."

"Loki's very intelligent and skilled in magic," Thor said as if he thought it would help. "His tactics are like none other. Father—well, he ought to be proud."

"It doesn't take the God of Lies to see that deceit from a distance," said Loki bitterly.

"Anyway," Thor said loudly to bring an end to the conversation. "Spøkelseheim. What sort of danger can it bring if we just take a look? A quick one, to see what it's like. And if it really proves to be as dangerous as you fear—suspect it to be," he added quickly when he saw Loki's eyebrow twitch with annoyance, "then we will just call for Heimdall and we will be back on Bifröst the next second. Deal?"

Loki gave Thor a humored and exasperated look. "You think you need me to balance out your irrationality?"

"Absolutely," said Thor.

"Damn," said Loki, tossing his book aside and rising from his chair.

Thor broke into a wide grin that looked as if it could reach from here to Midgard. "So you will come? Is that a yes?" Loki's glare made Thor all the more joyous. "We shall start off immediately! Sif—you and the Warriors Three prepare to arm yourselves. Loki, arrange our horses at the stable, we want to arrive at the Bifröst as soon as possible before anything comes up. And I'll—well, I'll arrange more preparations."

"Spoken like a true leader," Loki said. Thor beamed, evidently missing the tone of sarcasm.

"I'm afraid we can't, Thor," said Sif. "Duty calls me and the Warrior Three in the nearing hour. We wouldn't make it back from Spøkelseheim in time."

"Foul news indeed," said Thor with furrowed eyebrows, but his expression lit up almost immediately afterward. "Loki and I will navigate it first, and then next time you four shall accompany us, and we'll at least have better knowledge of what would come. Let's go, Loki."

"Before we start with all of that," said Hogun unexpectedly, "perhaps it is wise to give Fandrall and Volstagg their mouths back, or…?"

Heimdall was not the least bit impressed.

"There is nothing you seek there," he said in his deep but delicate voice, his eyes that were so gold they seemed blind glaring upon the two brothers. "Not even the glory you so highly desire."

Thor took no heed. "It would only be for a quick peek, if you are so dead against it. What dangers could possibly lurk there that we are unprepared for?"

"Not danger, no," said Heimdall. Thor's eyebrows shot higher up his forehead in confusion. "But it is no place for the princes of Asgard to venture."

"If it is the question of unfriendly kingdoms," said Loki, "that could easily be—"

"None live there," said Heimdall.

Loki and Thor exchanged looks. "Well, if it's that simple—"

"The Allfather has forbidden," said Heimdall, "any passage to Spøkelseheim."

"What? When?" said Thor. "Did he hear of our idea to go there?"

"It had been decreed two thousand years ago," said Heimdall, bowing his head, "when some soldiers of Asgard meant to explore the realm and never returned."

"Oh?" said Loki.

"Impossible," said Thor. "Surely he sent a search team of sorts."

"When I turn my eyes to that realm," said Heimdall, "I see nothing. Only vast, endless green that never stirs or change. A search team would have been futile."

"Yes, well," Loki said with a twitch in the corner of his lips, "that's usually what we call nature."

"You tease, Prince Silvertongue," said Heimdall, "but you know very well how nothing gets past my vision."

Loki raised his eyebrows, his smooth smile still intact.

"But we cannot have left those soldiers in that place without making an effort to bring them back," Thor said, his voice raising. "What if they were merely injured, or trapped, and we left them to die there?"

"That has been two thousand years ago," Heimdall said, his generally even voice growing jagged. "You entering Spøkelseheim would change nothing from the past."

"But to bring closure to those that have lost those warriors, to show to the Nine Realms that there is nowhere that the Asgardians fear," said Thor. "Isn't that what we need? How can a single realm reduce the greatest of our kind to avoid it like it was death itself?"

"I have been very clear to you, Prince Thor," said Heimdall, his voice retreating to its slow and echoing softness. "The Allfather has forbidden it. Spøkelseheim is a place of dishonor. A place that the Allfather believes would only weaken those of Asgard."

"I should have a word with our father, then," Thor said before brusquely turning away. Loki followed him several steps before stopping Thor with a hand to the arm.

"Even when he is as ridiculously stubborn as you are?" said Loki.

"Don't you see, Loki?" said Thor. "How can we feel safe and sleep well at night when we know that our own men have lost themselves in an unknown realm and we did not lift a single finger to help them all those years ago? If the dwarves or the Frost Giants even get a whiff of our wariness of that place, would they not think us weak and cowardly? Take the land themselves, or worse—take advantage of our apparent weakness and attack?"

"There is nothing cowardly about cautiousness," said Loki.

"It is cowardly when you do not rise to a challenge," said Thor. Loki's lips thinned.

"How much do you actually want to go to this—this Spøkelseheim?" he said.

"More than anything," said Thor.

Loki closed his eyes and gave a cross between a scoff and a sigh. "You still remember the contents of that book, do you not?" he said. "About the locations of—" He let his eyes flicker toward Heimdall's direction as a hint.

"I still do, yes," said Thor.

"Remind me," said Loki.

"A shadow away from Helheim," said Thor. He was surprised his memory served him that well. "Considered fiction and fact, caught between Helheim and Midgard."

"Good enough," said Loki. He turned back toward Heimdall, his thin face an epitome of casual innocence. "Never mind about Spøkelseheim then. Thor wants to go nowhere, in that case, but I'd like to visit Alfheim, if that's all right?"

Heimdall bowed his head, although his gaze did not leave the younger prince. "Alfheim, Prince Loki, is acceptable," he said. "But know this—I must see you at all times, to ensure to your father that you are safe."

"And I trust your good eyes," said Loki, flashing Thor a quick smile over his shoulder as he followed Heimdall into the golden globe. "You will wait for me back home, will you?"

"Yes," Thor said, rooting himself on the bridge. "I will."

"Good brother." Loki stood just a step behind Heimdall's podium. Heimdall unsheathed his golden sabre, long and treacherous with powers that few recognized or acknowledged. "Run along now."

Heimdall plunged the blade into the podium; lights shattered the air as static crackled like the metal of swords in battle in their ears. Thor could see the twitch of Loki's finger and he took it as a gesture to come inside without Heimdall noticing. Thor crept behind the guardsman, keeping close to Loki as the globe rattled and spun all around them and underneath their feet.

"Hold onto me, and do not let go," Loki said quietly.

Before Thor could even question him, light shot from before them and sucked the two of them into its grasp. They hurtled through the universe, blinded by the river of light that pulled them off of Asgard and toward the realm of light elves. Thor did not let go of Loki's arm, even though the sheer power of the wormhole threatened to tear the two apart.

A dull light opened before them and he felt his feet graze the top of soft grass, but just as he skimmed the ground he was shuttling again, whipped right off the spot and spinning through space. Thor tightened his grip on Loki, afraid of breaking his brother's arm but even less willing to lose him.

Before he had time to prepare himself, he landed in a heap onto the ground, grass barely cushioning his blow. Loki slammed against his back on top of him, making Thor choke as the air was punched out of his lungs. He couldn't see anything save the thick tendrils of grass right before his eyes. Was it night? He lifted his aching head blearily.

"That was not the act of the Bifröst," he said grudgingly, rubbing his temples. Still feeling the weight of Loki on his back, Thor jounced his torso slightly to shake him. "Loki, are you all right?"

Loki let out a groan and pulled himself off of Thor. "Sometimes fact or fiction indeed," he said. "I nearly missed."

"Are we at Spøkelseheim?" said Thor. "How did we get here?"

"I don't need the Bifröst to travel," said Loki, breathing heavily. "Your friends may mock my magic, but it undoubtedly comes in handy."

"But Heimdall," said Thor. "He may believe I returned to the castle, but he could see that you would not be in Alfheim."

Thor could not see, but he was almost certain that Loki bore his dry smile right now. "You don't really think I like to play duplicates with myself only when you're involved, do you, brother?"

Thor sat up, chuckling and rubbing his sore ribs. His laughter died when his eyes still grasped blindly to the blackness about them. He reached out, trying to feel for Loki, and his finger grazed his brother's short hair. Loki coughed violently and gave a mortified groan.

"What's wrong?" said Thor.

"I'm still not used to traveling so far with my magic," Loki said. "It'll take some time before I can attempt it again."

"Then rest from your sorcery," said Thor. "If you overexert yourself, you'll only hurt yourself."

Pop. A glowing green orb, like a candle in a glass globe, hung before them. Two smaller ones followed, floating about Thor and Loki, illuminating the leaves that surrounded them. Loki pushed himself off the ground, his pale face unreadable.

"I said I'll wait until I try it again," Loki said. "Not that I was tired."

Thor bowed his head in apology before pulling himself onto his feet. "Is there no sky?" he said.

Loki lifted a hand and one of the glowing orbs drifted upward over their heads, bringing only more closely knitted leaves to light. No sign of sky or sunlight leaked through.

"Well," said Loki. "No wonder Heimdall can see nothing."

"Hedges," said Thor. He tried to plunge his hand into the bushes, but his fingers would not even sink an inch into the twigs. He forced his fist into the shrubbery; the leaves barely trembled.

Loki's fingers twitched and more lights sprouted from thin air before them, revealing a dark tunnel of hedges before them. He looked back, but only an endless wall stretched behind them.

"What kind of place is this?" said Thor.

If Loki was the least bit afraid, or uncertain, he did not show it. He took several paces forward, the lights stretching before him. The tunnel turned a little ways in front of them, leading to dark unknown.

"A maze," said Loki.

The utter silence swallowed them.